Swift Riffle: Gay Representation in Speculative Fiction

Introducing a new category of post, where I’ll discuss a number of books through a specific lens. In this case, their gay characters and relationships!

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As an astonishing first for my blog, the spark of this post was ignited by a non-speculative fiction book. On a friend’s fervent recommendation, this week I opened and fell in love with John Boyne’s 2017 The Heart’s Invisible Furies. This darkly funny and deeply emotional novel follows the life and trials of a gay man growing up in strictly Catholic Ireland from the 1950s onward.

This story evokes many elements of Tomasz Jedrowski’s 2020 Swimming in the Dark for me — another great recommendation from a friend — and I was inspired to explore and discuss the gay characters and relationships in these books and in speculative fiction novels I love.

Two people and a reasonable amount of fingers — both nearly impossible for the AI

Speculative fiction is a medium which allows authors to explore important topics in novel ways, changing context and the lens of perception in order to gain better insight on real…